Cuba: Services, value added (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Cuba's services, value added (% of GDP) rose 0.19 percentage points on 2023 (from 73.2% to 73.39%).

Across the 27 yearly changes before that (1997 to 2023), the average change was +0.32 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.16 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 3.1 percentage points in 2020 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.39 percentage points in 2023. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 30% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2024, Cuba had the 8th highest value of the 31 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Cuba in the 2024 ranking

• Cayman Islands — 5th of 31: 86.54%
• Bahamas, The — 6th of 31: 77.19%
• Barbados — 7th of 31: 75.84%
• Palau — 9th of 31: 73.08%
• Israel — 10th of 31: 72.85%
• Turks and Caicos Islands — 11th of 31: 72.64%

What this measures

Services industries correspond to ISIC (Rev. 4) divisions 45-99 and includes wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, hotels and restaurants, transport, storage and communication, financial intermediation, real estate, renting and business activities, public administration and defence, compulsory social security, education, health and social work, other community, social and personal service activities, private households with employed persons, and extra-territorial organizations and bodies. Value added is the contribution to the economy by a producer or an industry or an institutional sector, which is estimated by the total value of output produced and deducting the total value of intermediate consumption of goods and services used to produce that output. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.

Limitations: In the services industry the many self-employed workers and one-person businesses are sometimes difficult to locate, and they have little incentive to respond to surveys, let alone to report their full earnings. Compounding these problems are the many forms of economic activity that go unrecorded, including the work that women and children do for little or no pay.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 29 values

Services, value added (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Antigua and Barbuda — 68.66% (2025)
• Argentina — 56.15% (2025)
• Aruba — 76.28% (2023)
• Bahamas, The — 77.19% (2024)
• Barbados — 75.84% (2024)
• Belize — 62.44% (2024)
• Bolivia — 53.36% (2024)
• Brazil — 59.74% (2025)
• Cayman Islands — 86.54% (2024)
• Chile — 55.51% (2025)
• Colombia — 58.51% (2025)

More economic policy & debt data for Cuba

• Grants, excluding technical cooperation (BoP, current US$) — US$139.62 million (2023)
• Technical cooperation grants (BoP, current US$) — US$18.29 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance and official aid received (current US$) — US$167.15 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance and official aid received (constant 2023 US$) — US$167.15 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance received (current US$) — US$167.15 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance received (constant 2023 US$) — US$167.15 million (2023)
• Net ODA received per capita (current US$) — US$15.17 (2023)
• Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, Total (current US$) — US$92.95 million (2023)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Cuba's services, value added (% of GDP)?

73.39% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1996?

It is up 8.71 percentage points from 64.68% in 1996. The highest value was 74.96% in 2021 and the lowest 63.91% in 1997.

How does Cuba rank?

8th highest of 31 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in services, value added (% of GDP) unusual for Cuba?

In 2024, Cuba's services, value added (% of GDP) rose 0.19 percentage points on 2023 (from 73.2% to 73.39%). Across the 27 yearly changes before that (1997 to 2023), the average change was +0.32 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.16 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NV.SRV.TOTL.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Offices (NSOs); National Accounts data files, Central Banks; Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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